History of random kindness

This great article by Jack Broom of the Seattle Times gives a brief run-down of the urban legend of random acts of kindness, tracing it back to 1982 when peace activist Anne Herbert wrote, “practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty” on a placemat in a Northern California diner.

Here’s the intro into Broom’s article:

Anonymous acts of kindness catch on

Before Bob Haslam had a chance to thank her, she was gone. In the drive-up lane at a Starbucks in Lynnwood, Haslam reached out for his usual — a nonfat raspberry latte with two Splendas stirred in. But the barista wouldn’t take his money.

“She leaned way out and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but the lady ahead of you paid for your latte. She said she wanted to make your day.’ ” Mary Ann Johnson had a similar experience. She had just finished a salmon pot-pie dinner at Chinook’s at Salmon Bay, topping it off with a chocolate sundae.

“When I got ready to go, the waitress told me, ‘Your meal’s been paid for by another patron. They said it was a random act of kindness.’ ”